grajaraman

Hello everyone,
We are planning a 2 week driving trip in France.

We would like to begin in Mont Saint Michel (we live in Luxembourg) and then head to some of the historical parts of Brittany. Which area should we consider as a base when trying to visit both these ?

We would then like to head to Il de Re, Bordeaux, Arcachon. If we could get recommendations for home bases in these parts as well, I would much appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

FrenchMystiqueTours

I can help you a bit on the Normandy/Brittany part of your trip. I've written a trip report about exploring near MSM / Saint-Malo/ Dinan that has lots of photos and descriptions and at the very end of the report I put all the links to major tourist office websites in Brittany and included other practical tips for exploring the region:

http://tinyurl.com/82azcyh

Here is a similar report about a week exploring near the Gulf of Morbihan: http://tinyurl.com/82azcyh

If you have a look at this thread you'll learn a lot about the various regions in Brittany and notable places to visit in each area:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...-Brittany.html

Where you stay depends on if you want a busier and livelier town with lots of restaurants, stores and services, or, if you want a quieter smaller town with fewer services, or, if you want a more rural location in a bed and breakfast type accommodation.

If you can focus and what parts of Brittany you want to visit and give some info about how many days you'll have for your trip it will be easier to make suggestions on a good base(s).

StCirq

I would divide the second week up between La Rochelle (from which you can easily visit Ile de Ré) and Arcachon (from which you can easily visit Bordeaux, the Dune du Pilat, Cap Ferret, etc.

Michael

For the Mont St. Michel, Cancale might be a good base. It is close to the Mont, St. Malo and Dinan. In western Brittany, Quimper would be a good base, and in Southeastern Brittany, a good base would be Vannes or the Golfe de Morbihan. You might want to take a look at my trip reports that include Brittany:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ummer-2009.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-brittany.cfm

Agree with StCi9rq for the southern part of the trip.

bilboburgler

I liked Hotel Galion in St Martin in Ile de Re. I've stayed in other hotels on the island but this is clean, pretty and small with a good view from the upper floors, but close enough to the little port to wander in for supper and breakfast. The hotel has its own car park but is just a few minutes from the town car park. If you want a hotel with a great restaurant then La Parasol at Ars, there is nothing else there but some walking and the rooms are nothing special but the food is great.

Avoid August. It's crowded.

grajaraman

Thank you so much for your prompt suggestions. I forgot to say I plan to go between July 5 and July 22.

Idea 1:
If we stayed at Erquy (per french mystique's suggestion), we could easily visit Cancale, Le Mont St Michel, Dinan, Saint Malo. I would think Angers is a bit far ?
After a 6 days in Erquy, we would like to head to La Rochelle, giving us proximity to Il de Re, Arcachon, Bordeaux, to spend another 5 days.
Idea 2:
Following Michael's advice, I could decide on 3 days in Cancale, 3 days in Vannes or Morbihan.
To visit Il de re (stay here), then head to saint emilion as a base to visit Arcachon and Bordeaux.

Am I missing something ? Which one would you recommend ? Any suggestions for a gites?

Thanks so much, I much appreciate it.

grajaraman

Or I could do Luxembourg -> Giverny (spend the night/day) -> Cancale for +/- 3 days(visit Le MSM, Dinan, Saint Malo) -> Gulf of Morbihan for 2 days (visit Angers as well) -> Il de Re (2 days) -> Stay around Bordeaux to visit Arcachon and those parts.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I think any of your itineraries is fine. I think you really just need to decide on what you want to do.

BTW, although I stayed in Erquy I wasn't suggesting you needed to stay there as well. The reason I chose Erquy is because it gave me good access to places east of there (Dinan, Saint-Malo, MSM etc.) as well as good access to places west of there (Côte du Goëlo, Côte de Granit Rose). It was a great base for my purposes but maybe there's a better base for your purposes. That choice would be up to you.

When trying to choose a base my approach is to always decide what I want to see and do first and then choose a base that is centrally located to visit all those places I want to see.

StCirq

It's not exactly a hop skip and a jump from La Rochelle to Bordeaux.

And I don't think using St-Emilion as a base for Bordeaux and Arcachon makes much sense. It's a pain to get into Bordeaux, and even more of a pain to wend you way through it to Arcachon. Arcachon is a lovely beach town, where all the wealthy Bordeaux wine widows built their mansions. And daytrips from there to the Dune du Pilat and Cap Ferret are delightful (way more delightful, to me anyway, than rarified, expensive, touristy St-Emilion - I get the allure of the wine, but frankly there is wine all OVER Bordeaux if that's what you're after). But it's your trip, so plan it as you wish to suit your needs.

It's a little early to be thinking about gîtes when your route isn't nailed down.

grajaraman

Thanks StCirq. Exactly the suggestion I wanted.
I picked St Emilion from reading a travel book.. And wine and hikes is what we are after, and perhaps someplace not too touristy.

StCirq

Well, if wine and hikes are high on your list I would recommend setting aside a bit of time in the La Rochelle part of your trip to go inland a bit to or toward Cognac. There is wine (pineau) there as far as the eye can see, many places to sample (but be careful - the French are very strict about drinking and driving and can pull you over without case), and gorgeous countryside. Just head toward Cognac.

grajaraman

Here is what we decided on now (my husband felt his opinion mattered as well
1. Luxembourg -> Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer (French Mystique, we liked your idea of having Erquy or around there as a base to travel around the Brittany area). We spend 4 nights here visiting the various towns.
2. Erquy -> Angers (visiting the chateaux) spend 1 night/2 days
3. Angers -> Il de Re (spend 3 nights here). Can use Il de Re to travel to La Rochelle.
4. La Rochelle to Bordeaux, maybe Blaye as a home base ? Spend 3 nights here.
5. Drive from Bordeaux -> Provence (my husband is insisting on visiting the Millau bridge). Spend 2 nights here.
6. Head back to Luxembourg.

Any advice on point #4 and 5 ?

FrenchMystiqueTours

Oh, I loved Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer so I'm glad to hear that town stuck out in your mind from looking at my pictures. Gorgeous beaches, rocky coast, bays, inlets, islands, great walks and just beauty everywhere on that little peninsula. I absolutely loved the typically Breton houses and feel of the village. I'm not much help with the Bordeaux part of your trip but if you have any other Brittany questions about that area I can help. Have a great time.

grajaraman

Thanks so much. Any places to stay in Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer ? Since it is for 4 nights, I am having a bit of a problem.

StCirq

I'm not sure why you want to pick out places east of Bordeaux to stay. I would never stay in Blaye. Just as with St-Emilion, you're going to have to fight your way into the city on roads that are confusing and can easily put you going over the wrong bridge and out into some huge industrial zone. Seriously, either stay in Bordeaux or somewhere near it on the coast.

IMO driving from Bordeaux to Provence (and I hope you realize the Millau bridge isn't IN Provence) for a mere 2-night stay is a really, really bad idea. If you wanted to head over to the region around Millau, there's plenty to see, but do you really want to drive 7-9 hours just to get to Provence (which could easily take a month to visit), then turn around and drive back to Luxembourg?

In some ways, this trip is getting more complicated and less sensible with every post. Must be the husband

grajaraman

Hahah.. StCirq, you are so right. I would like to just concentrate on the Brittany coast and Bordeaux..I'll see if I can taper him off.
Any suggestions on where I can stay in Bordeaux ?

FrenchMystiqueTours

I don't have any recommendations but the tourist office website for that area will have places listed:

http://www.valdarguenon.fr/se_loger_uk.php

http://www.mairie-saintjacutdelamer....uvrir.php?id=3

It's kind of overwhelming but there are loads of websites to search for accommodation in France and here's a whole list of them. The three that I always use are:

www.abritel.fr
www.homelidays.com
www.gites-de-france.com

Here are links to several more:

http://www.fleursdesoleil.fr/
http://gitelink.com/
www.clevacances.com
www.holiday-rentals.co.uk
www.frenchconnections.co.uk
www.papvacances.com
www.cheznous.com
www.vacationinfrance.com
www.francelodge.com
www.vrbo.com
www.ownersdirect.co.uk
www.sawdays.co.uk
www.travelzest.com
www.cottages4you.co.uk
http://www.french-guesthouse.com/
http://www.logishotels.com/en.html

StCirq

What's your budget? There are two hotels I like in Bordeaux, owned by the same family, but very different. One, the Etche-Ona, is very old Basque in décor, lots of heavy carved furniture and all that. The other, the Bayonne, is quite modern. They are both just off the rue Ste-Cathérine (the old pedestrian-only zone in the city center) and accessible to most things you'd want to visit. Neither has parking, but there are underground lots in several places close by.

grajaraman

We can afford upto €100-120 per night.

Michael

You could try these:

http://www.hotel-bordeaux-centre.com...eaux-centre/1/

The cheaper rooms in Opera are in the inner air shaft and barely hold a double bed. But it is clean. It may lack AC in these rooms. The location is excellent.